Kilian Jornet Burgada: Biography of a superman

Kilian Jornet has become a true mountaineering legend in recent years. In fact, we find it impossible to talk about this great sport or talk about the greatest cracks of mountaineering in history and not to mention his name and trajectory. His ambition, sporting prowess and history of overcoming have made him the best mountain runner in the world and also a symbol of admiration.

“I define myself as a mountain lover. I like competition, but for me sport is a way of discovering landscapes, both internal and external.”, affirms Kilian when asked a little about himself.

Since he was very young, Kilian has felt a kind of magnetism towards the mountains, and everything that implies: climbing, the summit, technique, freedom and running downhill, light and fast as only he knows how to do it. A humble man who has known how to overcome all the challenges in his fight against nature and in his fight to find the meaning of life, who at the end of the day has found it right there, on his way to the top.

he Not only is he a lover of nature, but he also feels a great commitment towards it that materializes in the launch of a foundation to protect the mountains. The athlete assures that he will not travel more than it means emitting three tons of CO2 per year. According to Jornet, his life in the last 10 years has been a total environmental disaster

This is how the story of this Catalan superman begins who does not differentiate between rock, snow or gravel, and who has overcome so many challenges that he seems rather out of this world!

THE STORY OF A BORN EXPLORER

Imagine a child of only three years old running barefoot through the snow as if he had found out in a vision that his destiny would lie in that.

If we look in depth at the history of this conqueror of summits, we find out that Kilian was never a "normal" child, although his own mother at first thought that that explorer nature was. But what child climbs his first 'three thousand' at three years of age?

“I lived my childhood as a time to discover, explore and learn a lot”, says the professional mountaineer, runner and skier. In addition, he ensures that his parents gave him all the tools and support to achieve his goals from an early age.

And it is very possible that the influence of his parents Eduard Jornet (mountain guide and guard of the Cap de Rec refuge, in the ilerdense Pyrenees) and Núria Burgada (mountain sports teacher) had something to do with this whole equation. Without a doubt, it is undeniable that his adventurous character comes from birth.

And he didn't wait long to bring out his passion for nature, climbing and mountains. At the age of 5 he already reached Pico Aneto (the summit of the Pyrenees, Tuca d'Aneto) and a year later he achieved his first 'four thousand' after climbing the Breithorn in the Italian and Swiss Alps. It was imminent that this climbing prodigy would stand out impressively from then on and for the rest of his life.

At 13 years old, Kilian reaches a peak in his life. Climbing had already become a part of him, and his ambition to reach further and higher grew daily.

“Those were years in which I felt strange”, comments the mountaineer, who stopped at this point in his youth in which he did not find himself in other contexts that did not deal with climbing; he only found a comfortable place in the mountains.

And it is that even Kilian himself realized what was happening to him:

“he felt that the things he wanted to do, the things he thought nobody understood. I felt alone in adolescence, the stage in which people want the opposite: they want to have friends and interact.

Fortunately, this time coincided with his visits to the Mountain Ski Modernization Center of Catalonia together with the mountaineer Jordi Cañals (participant in the first Catalan expedition to Everest in 1985), who was his first coach and sports manager. It was there that he managed to channel all this energy and talent, and focused it on sports, climbing and ski mountaineering.

And despite the fact that the age allowed to participate in the practice was at least 14 years old, it was undeniable that such a fortified, brave and expert 13-year-old Killian Jornet was an excellent candidate to enter the Center, so they allowed him to enter despite age.

This was an excellent opportunity for the young Kilian to direct his desire to climb and focus it towards a sports discipline instead of using his talent as a method of isolation. And so he did, making friends with the same interests, and turning this passion into a lifestyle and a professional career.

Without a doubt, it was a time in which he did not lack motivation or interest, because his emotion and energy fell on all of that. Over the years, he matured a lot and strengthened his physical condition for the standards of great summits, such as being the highest mountain in the world: Everest.

ITS MOST CHALLENGING SUMMIT (SQUARED)

The truth is that the climber has prepared his entire life for this moment. And it is that Killian himself affirms that his preparation for Everest began precisely at the age of three, when he began to go out to the mountains to climb and train, because it came naturally to him, because it came from his soul.

The story tells itself and that's how it was: Kilian climbed Mount Everest twice, the highest and most dangerous mountain in the world, in less than a week, without ropes, without oxygen, without sherpas, without doubts.

he Summited Everest for the first time during the early morning of May 21-22, 2017 in 26 hours, ascending the North Face from Base Camp.

On May 27 of that same year, 5 days later, he climbed Everest again in a second attempt to surpass himself. Kilian Jornet ascends the highest mountain in the world (for the second time in a week) in 17 hours.

A simply admirable display of momentum. He is a person who has never settled in his life, and he was not going to start doing so in the face of the most important challenge that has been proposed so far.

Jornet recently celebrated three years since he reached his double ascent of Everest with #MayToEverest and a virtual zoom session with 10 of his followers. What better way to celebrate than with his fans!

ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECORDS OF KILIAN JORNET

Kilian officially began as a skier in 1999 in the cross-country modality, and participated in 2000 for the Spanish Cup in the La Molina race.

In 2003 he becomes the youngest member of the Spanish national ski mountaineering team, achieving achievement after achievement internationally.

In 2007 he entered the world of running, demonstrating his impressive agility and speed skills in this discipline, always with his unique, own, and light style.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010 he won three world titles, taking home the gold medal at the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, and breaking the record in 2008 with 21 hours on a 166km course and a 9400m climb .

In addition, he is crowned champion in the Ski World Championships in the Vertical Race modality, taking the gold medal in 2009 and 2010.

Overall, Kilian Jornet won 14 medals at the World Ski Mountaineering Championships between 2008 – 2017, as well as 8 medals at the European Ski Mountaineering Championships between 2009 – 2018.

He was awarded 4 medals in the Skyrunning World Championships between 2010 – 2018 and was the Skyrunning World Series champion consecutively in 2007, 2008, 2009, and also in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In addition, he obtained 3 medals in the Skyrunning European Championships between 2008 – 2013.

And their successes don't stop there! Kilian was champion of the Ultra Running World Series in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and was champion of the Vertical Kilometer World Series in 2014.

he Without a doubt he is a person who loves competition, who loves to play sports and who lived for it as a lifestyle and as a professional career.

In addition, Kilian has set numerous and admirable records throughout his career, characterized by carrying the minimum amount of equipment and supplies that he carries with him on his journeys.

• 2009: Record of the Tahoe Rim Trail, in California and Nevada, with 38 hours and 32 minutes. A race consists of 265 kilometers and there is a drop of 8000 positive meters.
• 2010: Record of the Transpirinenca, from Fuenterrabía to Llansá, in 8 days. The race consists of 700 kilometers.
• 2013: Record speed ascent and descent of the Matterhorn from the town of Breuil-Cervinia along the Lion ridge in 2 hours 52 minutes and 2 seconds. In addition, it reaches the record for ascent and descent Chamonix-Mont Blanc in 4 hours 57 minutes.
• 2017: Base Camp Record - Everest in 17 hours.
• 2018: Record of the Bob Graham Round, a route of almost 106 km and 8,200 m of positive elevation gain, in 12 hours 52 minutes.

A STORY OF OVERCOMING

For Killian, 2006 was one of his best years, in which he was in optimal physical condition. Although he was a Junior, he had won the Agustí Roc, and was a world champion in ski mountaineering. However, just before starting the season running for Puigcerdá, he suffered an accident in which he broke his knee, fracturing his kneecap.

The doctors told him that he could lead a normal life but that it would not be easy to recover his condition to lead the extreme lifestyle to which he was accustomed. But Killian was not depressed by the fact, and instead strove daily to exercise and strengthen his knee, and not allow this to affect his career and his passion.

It was certainly a time of therapy and rest for Killian, but also a perfect opportunity to study and read. At that time, Killian did not stop looking at texts on human physiognomy and sports techniques, awakening a more mature interest in sports discipline and a state of awareness about who he was, and about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

“I wrote a list of all the races I would like to participate in…. races that one day I wanted to win, it was like the list of teenage dreams”

And you will know, one by one it was conquering and winning each and every one of the proposals that had been made on that list.

“I thought that I would cross off that list when I reached 40, 50 years old... And when I did it at twenty-some years old, it was a moment more sad than happy, because you find yourself with a void and say, oh my gosh, no there is nothing else”.

At this moment in his life, sadness did invade Killian's life, to the point of feeling pressure from the media and discouragement from competing, internalizing his fame, and everything that that entailed.

“I don't want to compete again” thought the Catalan mountaineer, “It's something that does me more harm than good”.

At that moment Killian really questioned the consequences of being famous: “It's hard to see myself as an idol, or a myth for someone just because I run fast. I could be bad or an abuser, a Nazi, a murderer, anything, and people wouldn't find out because they don't know about me. I feel dirty somehow, dirty from people's admiration. I feel dirty from fanaticism, and that's why I feel like I have to clean myself up, and the way I find to do it is to do something that brings me closer to death."

Kilian then faced very strong feelings that invaded his senses: suffocation and considerable pressure, because he did not see the point of the admiration of others, and he did not understand how strangers could applaud his greatness and his talent without even meet him.

At this point in his life, the mountaineer had to deal with his desire for sport and competition, and also his dislike for being exposed in the media.

Killian had a hard time, but in the end his return to the mountains reminded him that this was what gave him life: exploring the mountains, running in them, “playing” in them.

“Summits of my Life was the project that brought me out of that moment of sadness. To have fulfilled all the dreams I had as a child.said the climber.

He also had to overcome the death of his idol and friend Stephane Brosse in an accident, when they were climbing Montblanc together. After that he wrote: "The mountain takes away many things from us, but it also gives us everything we need to breathe."

he found meaning in the mountains in the respect he has for them. Although he faced discouragement, he outdid himself, and followed the passion that led him to break all the triumphs and records for which he is admired today. Finally, Killian meets who would be his life partner Emelie Forsberg, with whom he found emotional stability in the face of those moments of disdain and continued with his sports career even more motivated, to go further, and reach higher, faster and faster.

SUMMITS OF MY LIFE

Kilian grew up among mountains and ambitious people who inspired him to pursue an arduous sports career and overcome his path to Everest. In Summits of My Life, Jornet reveals in a set of several films a little more about his intimate fears, passions and contradictions throughout his life.

In this personal project, closely linked to the purism and minimalism of the mountains, the mountaineer shows 5 years of traveling around the world, and his experience in the most important and challenging climbs on the entire planet.

The start and production of this project in the style of “ cinema verité ” marked an important before and after for the mountaineer in his career and in his life.

WHAT IS YOUR TRAINING?

This mountaineering legend has made it clear on several occasions that his achievements require great effort and commitment to which every hour of the day is due. There are weeks in which he has run 233 kilometers, which would be equal to an average of 33 kilometers each day. However, he not only trains running, but within his training we see a variety of exercises from cycling, skiing or climbing. A true sports enthusiast as there are days when after a hard day in the mountains he spends the afternoon running on the static treadmill at home. For him there are no excuses and if the weather conditions do not accompany him in his daily exercise, he has no problem doing it in his own home.

Kilian was born to conquer mountains, and that's what he's dedicated his entire life to. Human at last, he has had to overcome difficult moments, but at no time is his technique, his ambition, or his adventurous spirit questioned. Without a doubt, he is an admirable character who will go down in history for his big heart, and for his desire to achieve his dreams, whatever the cost.